During the image forming process, toner is transferred from toner carrying members to print or copy media. Inefficiencies in the transfer process cause residual toner to remain on the toner carrying members or other transport members, such as transport belts, intermediate transfer belts/drums, and photoconductive members. Residual toner may also be created during registration, color calibration, paper jams, and over-print situations. This residual toner should be cleaned before it affects the quality of subsequent images. The residual or waste toner is commonly removed by a blade or other means and the removed toner is stored in a waste toner container.
Space constraints often require that a waste toner container in an electrophotographic device be located at some remote location away from the cleaning location. Because of this separation, waste toner is conveyed from the cleaning location to the waste container. The conveyance path between the cleaner location and the waste toner container is also limited by space and often travels through the internals of the electrophotographic device. Consequently, the conveyance mechanism that transports waste toner from the cleaner location to the waste toner should be designed to fit in confined spaces. On the other hand, the conveyance mechanism should be designed to transport a sufficient volume of waste toner to keep the cleaner location free of accumulated waste toner. If waste toner is not transported away from the cleaner location efficiently enough, toner may begin to accumulate and degrade the cleaning operation, resulting in poor image quality.